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Nekomajin
Nekomajin |english = Nekomajin |kanji = ネコマジン |romanji = Nekomajin |genre = Comedy |image name = nekomajinbook.jpg |image size = 300px |image caption = |image = Image |float = Left |ref = }} is a series of eight one-shot manga chapters by Akira Toriyama, spanning a total of eight installments released from 1999 to 2005. It is most notable for its later portion, "Neko Majin Z," which is a self-parody of the author's most famous work ''Dragon Ball in which Dragon Ball characters make regular cameos therein. Overview History Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Nekomajin appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a self-parody of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga until "Neko Majin Z" published in 2001 in Monthly Shōnen Jump, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on 4 April 2005. Plot and General information The series is set in an uncivilized world in the same era and on the same Earth as Dragon Ball,Chouzenshuu 1, 2013 and revolves around the adventures of various characters from the Neko Majin race, a group of cats that can use a little bit of magic, and seem to enjoy practical jokes and martial arts even more. It eventually spins off into "Neko Majin Z", centralizing around Neko Majin Z, a cat-like version of Goku complete with a Power Pole and typically Dragon Ball Z-style attacks, such as the "Nekohameha". Other familiar motifs show up during the course of the series, including Frieza's son Kuriza, a fat Super Saiyan named Onio, and even cameos by actual Dragon Ball characters Vegeta, Good Buu, Goku and his family (Chi-Chi, Ox-King, Goten, Pan), and Uub. Several references to "Neko Majin Z" were added as Easter eggs to the Japanese version of the video games Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 and Dragon Ball Z 2 V (notably in the form of Kuriza as an alternate outfit for Frieza, complete with a chestnut-shaped Death Ball attack), and Z makes an appearance as a secret support character in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 on the Nintendo DS. Timeline placement The events taking place in the last chapter of Nekomajin Z are shown to happen at some point after the last chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, due to Goku wearing his blue gi, the presence of Uub as Goku's student, and Pan's appearance. Releases Original serialization All chapters of Nekomajin were originally published in Weekly/Monthly Shōnen Jump in Japan. The Nekomajin chapters were reprinted in Saikyō Jump, starting in the 2014 Saikyō Jump #7 on June 4, 2014, as a tie-in with the inclusion of Neko Majin cards for the Dragon Ball Heroes JM4 update. # : April 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #22-23) #"Neko Majin ga Iru 2": August 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #37-38) # : August 2003 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #37-38) # : June 2001 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2001 #6) #"Neko Majin Z 2": August 2003 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #9) #"Neko Majin Z 3": February 2004 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2004 #3) #"Neko Majin Z 4": January 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #1) #"Neko Majin Z 5": February 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #2) Collected release All eight chapters are collected in one volume in the format of a kanzenban, published by Shueisha's Jump Comics imprint on 4 April 2005 (ISBN 4-08-873825-X). English-language release Viz has translated the English version of Nekomajin chapter 4, titled "Neko Majin Z", that is in the October 2007 issue of Shonen Jump. Digital release A digital and colorized version of Nekomajin was made available in spring 2013. All title pages and any special color pages remain the same as their original printings (both in magazines and in its collected release), but all additional black-and-white pages have been updated with new colorized versions. Characters Trivia *The part where Goku asks Neko Majin Z to chase a mouse is referenced in the Dragon Ball SD version of the General Blue Saga. *The Tech-Tech aliens from Dr. Mashirito and Abale-chan look like the aliens in "Neko Majin ga Iru 2", but they are not the same. Toriyama explained in an interview that the aliens he draw generally have this sort of design and, at the time, he enjoyed drawing Nekomajin, so when aliens appeared in Abale-chan, he did not even intend to come up with a new design. *''Oishii Shima no Ū-sama, another manga by Akira Toriyama, is very similar to ''Nekomajin. Gallery References Site Navigation Category:Dragon Ball media Category:Related Manga